Kgshak Akec Kgshak Akec i(21151506 works by)
Gender: Female
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BiographyHistory

Kshak Akec has pursued a Master's in Literature & Creative Writing at Deakin University and has been involved with Courthouse Youth Arts (CHYA).

Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

2024 recipient Australia Council Grants, Awards and Fellowships Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups
2021 shortlisted The Australian / Vogel National Literary Award (for an unpublished manuscript)
2020 shortlisted The Horne Prize for 'When Deep Roots Unearth'.

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Hopeless Kingdom Crawley : UWA Publishing , 2022 24486111 2022 single work novel

'Akita's family have always kept moving to survive. Sudan to Cairo. Cairo to Sydney. Sydney to Geelong. At each new place, challenges test and break Akita, her four siblings and her parents. Just when eight-year-old Akita is feeling settled at her new school and community in Sydney for the first time in her life, her parents decide to relocate to Geelong to be closer to their Sudanese relatives. The move is the beginning of a downward spiral that threatens to unravel the fabric of their family and any hope for finding peace and belonging.

'Told through the interchanging perspectives of Akita and her mother, Taresai, this coming of age story shines a light on the generational curses of trauma, and gives voice to the silent heartache of searching for acceptance in an adopted society which isn't able to look past the surface of skin colour. Individually, the female narrators experience racism, rejection and despair, but together their narratives reveal a resilience of spirit and determination to transcend expectations of what a daughter, a sister, and a mother can be.

'Hopeless Kingdom is the winner of the 2020 Dorothy Hewett Award. Inspired by the author's own experience of migration from Africa to Australia, this story signals a powerful new voice in Australian writing.'  (Publication summary)

2023 shortlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
2021 joint winner Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript
Last amended 25 Jun 2021 07:40:09
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